Guiding principles and the most important 5 min of the campaign

[JPJones]

9:00 to 9:05 ET, Sept. 30, 2004

Look at the opening statements from the first debate in 2000.

Bush:
"And that stands in contrast to my worthy opponent's plan, which will increase the size of government dramatically. His plan is three times larger than President Clinton's proposed plan eight years ago. It is a plan that will have 200 new programs -- expanded programs and creates 20,000 new bureaucrats. It it empowers Washington. My vision is to empower Americans to be able to make decisions for themselves in their own lives."
http://www.debates.org/pages/trans2000a.html

Gore:
"Will we use our prosperity to enrich not just the few, but all of our families? I believe we have to make the right and responsible choices. If I'm entrusted with the presidency, here are the choices that I will make. I will balance the budget every year. I will pay down the national debt. I will put Medicare and Social Security in a lockbox and protect them. And I will cut taxes for middle-class families. I believe it's important to resist the temptation to squander our surplus. If we make the right choices, we can have a prosperity that endures and enriches all of our people. If I'm entrusted with the presidency, I will help parents and strengthen families because, you know, if we have prosperity that grows and grows, we still won't be successful unless we strengthen families by, for example, ensuring that children can always go to schools that are safe. By giving parents the tools to protect their children against cultural pollution. I will make sure that we invest in our country and our families. And I mean investing in education, health care, the environment, and middle-class tax cuts and retirement security. That is my agenda and that is why I think that it's not just a question of experience."

Now I'm no Democratic strategist (if you want, I can get Will Pitt to verify that I'm not a Democratic strategist).

But I think what is missing from Gore's statement is a 'guiding principle'. I think the guiding principle is clear in B* statement (it doesn't matter that it is a bad idea). When you understand someone's guiding principles, the details on each and every program don't matter.

The problem is that anything that Kerry stands for that costs money opens him up to the charge that he is pro-big government, pro-taxes.

So, I hope that Kerry can sum up his ideas as a guiding principle.
Here are some of his ideas: "And when John Kerry puts forward a new idea, he'll tell you how he's going to pay for it."
"John Kerry will cut the deficit in half during his first four years in office." http://www.johnkerry.com/issues/economy/

And here's an example from the past: "The most important distinction in this campaign is that I represent real hope for change, a departure from trickle-down economics, a departure from tax and spend economics, to invest in growth. But before I can do that, I must challenge the American people to change, and they must decide. Tonight I have to say to the President: Mr. Bush, for 12 years you've had it your way. You've had your chance and it didn't work. It's time to change. I want to bring that change to the American people. But we must all decide first we have the courage to change for hope and a better tomorrow." Bill Clinton, opening statement, 1st debate in 1992.

Compare to Bush I's statement, "PRESIDENT BUSH: Well, I think one thing that distinguishes is experience. I think we've dramatically changed the world. I'll talk about that a little bit later, but the changes are mind-boggling for world peace. Kids go to bed at night without the same fear of nuclear war. And change for change sake isn't enough. We saw that message in the late 70s when heard a lot about change, and what happened, that misery index went right through the roof. But my economic program is the kind of change we want. And the way we're going to get it done is we're going to have a brand new Congress. A lot of them are thrown out because of all the scandals. I'll sit down with them, Democrats and Republicans alike, and work for my agenda for American renewal, which represents real change. But I'd say, if you had to separate out, I think it's experience at this level."

[BlueEyedSon]

1. You mean Bush's "guiding lie"?

:)

[JPJones]

2. Sort of a lie, it's a nicer way of saying

"I don't want to abolish government. I simply want to reduce it to the size where I can drag it into the bathroom and drown it in the bathtub."